Over the past week, Fox News has not mentioned
human-induced climate change or global warming while reporting on or
discussing the current heat wave, according to a search of Snapstream
video and Nexis transcripts.

The Washington Post reported that this "long duration, widespread
heat wave continues to bake virtually the entire central U.S" and "969
daily high temperature records were either tied or broken in the
country" through July 16. The Post further reported:

Climate change research indicates that manmade
emissions of greenhouse gases may already be increasing the likelihood
of extreme heat events like this one, including the 2003 European heat
wave that killed tens of thousands. Also, recent studies have projected
much hotter summers beginning as soon as just a few decades from now as
the climate continues to warm. However, it will take months if not years
for scientists to determine whether climate change has played a role in
turning up the heat so far this summer, and in this heat wave
specifically.

NASA climatologist Gavin Schmidt told Media Matters it's "very
probable that any particular heat wave happening now will be shown to
have become more likely because of global warming," adding: "Of all the
different extreme events that can happen, the partial attribution of
heat waves to ongoing climate change is one of the easier connections."

Schmidt explained that there are a number of questions to ask when
considering whether global warming may be contributing to extreme
weather events:

1) A sniff test - does it make any sense that this effect might be
linked? (this doesn't mean that non-obvious things can't happen, but the
burden of proof is higher).

2) Are there analyses in the scientific literature that indicate
that models do in fact show a change in this extreme as a function of
increasing global temperatures? Are these analyses credible? (this will
depend on the scale involved, etc.), do all models show the same thing?

3) Have we seen increases in the data already? (this can be hard since the data on extremes is not very extensive).

4) Are the expected changes in the statistics commensurate with
what has been seen? (i.e. if models predict a 10% increase but the
increase has been 100%, then it's not clear we have understood what is
going on).

In the case of heat waves, the answer to each of these questions is yes, Schmidt said.

The National Research Council explained in a recent report that heat
waves are expected to become "more intense, more frequent, and
longer-lasting" in the United States and around the globe as a result of
human-induced climate change.

Sara Robinson has worked as an editor or columnist for several national magazines, on beats as varied as sports, travel, and the Olympics; and has contributed to over 80 computer games for EA, Lucasfilm, Disney, and many other companies. A native of California's High Sierra, she spent 20 years in Silicon Valley before moving to Vancouver, BC in 2004. She currently is pursuing an MS in Futures Studies at the University of Houston. You can reach her at srobinson@enginesofmischief.com.